Carlier Makigawa is one of Australia’s most respected metalsmiths, working with silver and gold to create meticulously crafted frameworks, which hold a dynamic and expressive energy. She graduated in 1980 from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, later going on to complete her Masters in Fine Art at RMIT University in 1987. Carlier was an instrumental figure in metalsmithing education in Victoria in the 1980s and 90s, and has exhibited internationally since 1982.

Carlier’s work can be found in public collections worldwide, including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design, New York and the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art, Japan.

“Lines define volumes and transparencies that explore movements and space. The geometry of nature and architecture form this world. Fragile structures project and expand in unplanned growth. I find myself searching for the essence of a life and, through making, trying to visualize something else not there but still present. As beauty itself is this realization of simultaneous emptiness and form, it is as much about what is not there as what is.” Carlier Makigawa